FMA: Revelations
by Memphisonfire
Summary: 20 years have gone by since the Homunculi have been defeated. Those years have been filled with peace and prosperity for Amestris. But, darkness is looming on the outside as new power arises in the North. Fuhrer Grumman turns to the State Alchemists to help stop the rising conflict but can is it too late for it to be stopped? The hope of Amestris lies on Ed's children, Maes & Nina.
1. Memories of a Time Before

"It's been twenty years." said Fuhrer Grumman as the reports flooded in. Fort Briggs was being attacked in the north and Pendelton in the west. War had finally found it's way back to Amestris.

* * *

"So this is Liore," said a short, blonde haired boy as he stood staring at the city.

"Hey, brother! Wait up!"

The boy grunted in frustration as he stood and waited for a blonde haired girl with pigtails to catch up. Eventually, she caught up and smiled at him. She was panting lightly, trying to catch her breath.

"Why do you always fall behind Nina? Everywhere we go you always end up either taking forever or you get lost."

Nina looked at him with a small frown.

"Well if you wouldn't be in such a hurry to get everywhere we wouldn't have this problem would we. Why can't we just ever stop and see the sights? We're always on a mission and never get to take a break and have some fun."

She folded her arms and looked away from him. The boy rubbed his temples and started making his way to the center of the town. The roads were filled with small merchant shops selling fruits, meat, clothing, utensils. Anything you needed you could find in Liore's streets. Most of the buildings looked like they were brand new, but there were still some that bared the scars of the fighting that had happened twenty years ago.

"Nina, what's the address on the package again?" he asked as he scanned over different street signs. Nina reached into her bag and pulled out the small box.

"It says 325 Main Street."

The boy nodded and then lead on down another road until they reached a central plaza. People flooded the area buying all sorts of groceries and goods. A fountain in the middle of the plaza seemed to be where all the kids congregated and were playing. But the fountain wasn't the main attraction. There was an enormous building that's towers seemed to pierce the sky. The two of them looked up and smiled.

"So this is the great temple we heard about. Maybe we can stop by and take a look on the way back, Nina."

Nina smiled as they made their way over to a small, outdoor bar.

"Hey mister, can you tell us which way is 325 Main Street?"

"You two looking for Rose? Well, her house is two blocks north of here." The man pointed down a road to their right, "Just head that way and you'll find it eventually."

Nina smiled and thanked the man as her brother began walking away. She groaned as she noticed that she was falling behind again and waved to the man and chased after him.

"So who do you think this Rose is brother?" asked Nina as they approached a door.

"I don't know but we're about to find out."

He knocked on the door three times and took a step back almost bumping Nina off the stairs.

"Hey, watch it!" she protested as she grabbed the railing to brace herself.

"Oh, sorry Nina." he said as he turned to help her.

The door opened up and out walked a woman. She had long, dark brown hair that was dyed in the front. She smiled at the two of them as she stepped towards them.

"Hello, can I help you..."

Nina's brother turned and looked at her. A look of surprise suddenly appeared on her face.

"Ed? Is that you?" Nina watched as she grabbed her brother and wrapped her arms around him. "Ed, it's been so long? Why haven't you and Al come to visit at all?"

Nina and her brother gave her a confused look. Then the girl blinked and looked strangely from Nina to her brother.

"All these years and you still haven't grown at all Ed."

Nina couldn't help but laugh then. Not only did she think that her brother was their father but that she mentioned her brother's height. He almost fainted at that but then quickly started pumping his fist in the air and yelling at her.

"Who you are calling an ant so small that you don't even notice!"

"Well, I can see your temper still hasn't changed at all." she said while giggling.

"I'm sorry miss but you're mistaking my brother for our father." Nina said while giggling herself.

Nina peeked at her brother and saw that he was still yelling about his height. But, the woman seemed to understand then.

"Oh, so Edward Elric is your father then?" she asked Nina.

"Yes, I'm Nina." she said as she smiled politely at the woman.

"And I'm Maes." he said while trying to stick his chest out to look stronger.

"Well nice to meet you two. I'm Rose Thomas. Please come in."

The woman smiled and motioned for the two of them to come into her house. Nina started to walk in but was stopped by Maes.

"I'm sorry ma'am but we can't come in. We're actually just here to deliver a package to you and then we need to be going."

Maes looked at Nina and she quickly grabbed the small box and handed it to Rose. Rose smiled as she accepted the package.

"What's the hurry? I'm sure two young teenagers like you wouldn't be that busy that you couldn't come in and have a nice meal."

Maes' stomach started growling then. They hadn't had a really good home cooked meal since they had left Central. He really wished that they could stay but they had a more important issue that needed to be taken care of.

"I'm sorry Miss Rose, but we really need to be going. One of the State Alchemists put in a request for assistance and we need to get to him right away."

Nina looked at her brother curiously. Maes felt a tingle of regret creep through him. He hadn't told Nina about their real reason for coming here because he knew how big of a crush that she had on this alchemist.

"Oh ok." she said as she smiled at them. "Who is it that you are looking for? Maybe I can help direct you to him."

"That's ok, we know where he is already. But, thank you for your kindness."

Maes waved at Rose and started walking away without saying goodbye. Maybe if they found out what exactly they were needed for and got it done quickly they could come back for that nice meal. He heard Nina apologize for him, say goodbye, and then chase after him. He could also hear what Rose said as she walked back into her home and Maes couldn't help but feel his pride swell up.

"That boy is just like his father."

Maes wanted to be everything that his father was and he had a big reputation to live up to. He heard his sister's footsteps catch up to him and then he felt a swift pain in his right arm.

"Hey! What'd you punch me for?"

"Why didn't you tell me we had another mission here as well?" asked Nina angrily.

Maes kept walking as he nursed his right arm. They were heading back the way they had come. Back towards the temple.

"Because, we were asked to assist Selim Bradley."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**(Look for the next part coming soon...)**


	2. A Familiar Face, A Different Light

"We're going to help Selim? Why didn't you tell me!" yelled Nina.

Maes smirked as they entered the temple. The place was enormous. Every step reverberated throughout the entire building. He let out a soft whistle as a soldier approached them.

"I'm sorry but civilian's are not allowed into the temple at this time. We're going to have to ask you to leave." the guard said politely.

Maes reached into his pocket and pulled out his Academy ID card as Nina did the same. The guard took both of their cards and looked them over.

"The Hohenheim Academy for Alchemy. So you two are wanting to be alchemists then? What brings you all the way out here from Central?" asked the guard.

"Selim Bradley requested our assistance." Maes answered. The guard nodded as he looked at the cards again and then back up at them.

"Elric? You wouldn't happen to be related..."

"Yes, we are. Our father is Edward Elric." interrupted Maes. It was the same story almost everywhere they went. It seemed that dad had quite a reputation and almost everyone knew of their last name.

"Wow, the son of daughter of a national hero. Now, that's something that doesn't happen everyday." the guard politely waved them through and pointed them towards a stairway that led down to the lower level. "Major Bradley should be down there somewhere. If you get lost just call for help and someone will find you."

They left the guard and hadn't even made it two steps down the stairway before Nina's right hand connected with Maes' head.

"Ow, what was that for?" he protested as he turned only to find himself defending against a flurry of punches.

"You still haven't answered my question brother! Why didn't you tell me?" she yelled as she continued throwing punches at Maes. One connected with his cheekbone and it sent him tumbling down the stairs. Nina smirked but then quickly found herself reaching for a rail, the wall, something.

The two of them finally hit the ground with Nina on top of Maes.

"Now why'd you have to go and do that sis?" yelled Maes.

"I didn't do it. You're the one that pulled me down with you!"

"Well, I wouldn't have fell if you hadn't punched me!"

"Well if you would've just told me where we were going then I wouldn't have punched you." Maes found himself blocking Nina's punches again.

"Will the two of you stop it?" said someone.

Nina stopped punching Maes. A tall, handsome, dark haired boy was standing over them. He had longer black hair that down past his eyes. His hair didn't hide his eyes though and it wasn't like you could miss them anyway. They were bright and looked like pools of water. He was wearing a black jacket, white shirt, black pants, and he carried the pocket watch of a State Alchemist. They both knew this boy very well.

"Hey Selim, sorry about that." said Maes.

"Is there ever a time when you two aren't fighting?" Selim asked as he helped them both off of the ground. Nina couldn't help but giggle and blush as she smiled at him and scratched the back of her head.

"No, not really because Nina always has to be such a girl about everything."

"Because I am a girl!" Nina exclaimed as her fury started rising back up again.

"Whoa, easy Nina. If anyone's a girl here it's got to be Maes. I mean after all he is the shortest."

"Who are you calling so tiny that a squirrel could play with!" yelled Maes as he started pacing. Selim chuckled at both of them.

"You two just never change do you." he smiled at them both and sighed. "I'm glad you two got here safely."

Selim turned a motioned for them to follow. Maes laughed as Nina ran up next to Selim and walked beside him.

"You know sis, that might be the fastest I've ever seen you move." Nina shot a glare back at him.

"So Selim, what do you need us for?" she asked him as they proceeded down a hallway to a set of tall double doors. When the doors were closed a picture of a strange tree adorned them. It was a tree that was upside down. It's roots were at the top and the leaves were at the bottom with different branches spread throughout it's trunk.

"What is this?" Maes said as he ran his fingers along the intricate artwork.

"It's an imitation of one of the gates of truth." said Selim as he stood behind them and watched them analyze it.

"I've seen this before. Dad has a whole research journal about it." said Nina as she looked back at Selim.

"I'm sure he does. After all, him and your Uncle are the foremost authorities on the subject." he said as he walked forward and pushed the doors open. "But, that's not what we're here for."

The doors gave way and opened into a massive room that had been carved out of the stone. Torches lit the room up, revealing scientists scurrying around, taking samples of all sorts of stone, carvings, and paintings, but, there was one wall that they left alone. The wall was the one furthest back. It was filled with a giant painting that depicted what looked like a war. No, an extermination.

"Selim, what is this?" asked Maes as he gazed over the painting.

"We don't know. All we know is that it's Pre-Amestrian. The hallway we actually came through to get here was partially blocked initially. We believe that during the uprising here twenty years ago that the wall that blocked both the door and this room collapsed. No one found the room until a few months ago because no one had been down here since then."

Maes couldn't pull his eyes from the painting. Four horsemen, each wearing a different color, were attacking people. Each of them seemed to control some sort of power that no one could defend.

"These horsemen, are they using alchemy?" asked Nina.

"We don't know. We're trying to find out what we can but so far we have nothing. It seems that the former regime erased any records that we did have or Pre-Amestrian times. We want to transport the painting back to Central but for obvious reasons we can't. That's why I requested that you two come. I figured if Nina could get a good look at the painting that she could draw it back in Central from memory."

"Guess that photographic memory of yours is useful you freak." said Maes as he patted his sister on her back.

"Says the alchemy prodigy that can transmute without a circle." retorted Nina.

"You can transmute without a circle?" asked Selim. "When did you start doing that?"

"A couple months ago. I just woke up one day and saw Uncle Al do it and I decided to try it and it worked."

Selim scratched his chin. Maes knew what his friend was thinking. Maes was now one of the few alchemists in the world that could transmute without a circle. He also knew that it was because it meant something more serious. It meant that he had seen the real gates.

"Well, that should make it really easy for you to graduate from the Academy and become a State Alchemist." said Selim.

"Yeah, but is it really worth the price?" murmured Maes under his breath as Nina looked the picture over a few more times.

"Ok, I think I got it now. Is there anything else we can do Selim?" Nina looked up at Selim with her puppy dog like eyes. She was trying to find a way to stay.

"Nope, that was it. As long as Nina has the picture in her head you two can go back to Central."

Maes smiled and then looked over at Nina. She was gawking at Selim again, like she always did. Maes grabbed her arm and started pulling her away as she fought to try and stay.

"Why can't we stay a little longer? Maybe Selim will need our help with something else brother!" she cried. Maes stopped and looked back at Selim for support.

"Don't look at me. She's your sister and we got things covered here." said Selim as he turned and walked over to scientist and started looking at carving on a stone pillar. Maes turned and dragged Nina kicking and screaming out of the room and back outside the temple. They were heading back to Central. They were heading home.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**(Next part is coming soon)**


End file.
